It's definitely along the Truckee River. My guess would be about 3 miles west of Verdi, NV, near the Nevada/California state line (right below today's "Last Chance" casino on parallel Interstate 80). The hint for me is the 'broadening out' of the canyon in the distance.

It was about thirty years ago; my last trip running what became of "the Streamliner," AMTK No's 5 and 6.

The Streamliner is alongside the Truckee (truckee is an attempt to say and spell the name of a native American tribe's CEO of the time of building the CP) river.

3 miles west of Verdi (ver-die) is a good guess. My pondering starts with the lack of shadows from the trees indicating, because it's when the sun beams from the south and the tracks are predominately on the river's east shore, and left-hand running existed, I was told, makes me think that the picture was taken during a PR event east of Truckee.

A major locater, though, is that the two tracks between a point east of Verdi and near Truckee were on different grades. In this photo the fact that they are together might zero-in the locality.

In '86 Amtrak hired, and I turned it down, when they said work the Los Angeles Extra List, or give up your rights---I did.